Sam the Record Man sign officially gets new home

After years of political wrangling, the Sam the Record Man sign is finally getting a new home at Yonge-Dundas Square. City council voted this morning to have the sign reassembled on the roof of 277 Victoria Street, a city-owned building on the east side of the square, and have Ryerson University pick up the bill.

The decision means Ryerson is no longer responsible for installing the sign on the outside of the new Student Learning Centre at Yonge and Gould, the original site of the Sam the Record Man store, despite building permission being granted on the understanding the university would restore the giant neon records in situ or on the outside of its library.

"We always thought there was a better solution than that," said Sheldon Levy, outgoing President and Vice Chancellor of Ryerson University, last year. "There was a number of people, ourselves included, that thought we could find a better location. We were always willing to meet the obligation of putting it on Gould Street, that was never the question."

Ryerson will pay the cost of installing, operating, and maintaining the sign in Yonge-Dundas Square.

The gigantic sign was built in 1961 for the exterior of Sam Sniderman's flagship Toronto record store. Today, only one store from the original music store empire remains in Belleville, Ont. Musicians Geddy Lee and Leslie Feist wrote letters urging for the sign's return prior to today's decision. The sign is currently in pieces at a sign company in Vaughan.

The city looked at various location in Yonge-Dundas Square, including the northwest corner of Yonge and Dundas and the roof of a smaller building beside to 277 Victoria. Today's decision also directed city staff to seek funding sources for a "Toronto Music City" sign.

City council also voted to ensure that any future owner of the Victoria Street building, which is seen as a prime target for redevelopment, must take on the preservation of the sign. City staff noted that tethering the sign to the building will reduce the value of the property should it be sold at a later date.

Are you pleased with the outcome?

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

Yay a sign that will make no sense to anybody born after 1980 and which advertises a company that doesn't exist! Surely, there will not be mockery from tourists wondering why there is a huge sign for a defunct record store that was dirty and who six people miss! Excellent use of resources! I am sure Ryerson students will love that their tuition will reflect the costs of installing and lighting this sign forever!

All good. No different than the Colgate Clock or Pepsi Sign in NYC -- odd origins, no current purpose, but such is the colour of local history. I'm fine with this, and if they can parlay into a bigger bragging statement about our musical successes, great. Now where is that CHUM1050 sign?

I'm happy it's being preserved and displayed....problem is this is Toronto so of course the only real solution was a solution that made no sense at all. Putting that sign up there makes no sense, it loses all meaning and context....it's just going to end up being a bizarre piece of trivia for the next 50 years. Maybe they'll put the Honest Ed's sign up there too?

Jesus, does no one under thirty have any appreciation for Toronto iconography? Yes, the placement of the sign is weird, but incase anyone hadn't noticed yet, so is the rest of our city. Toronto is a hodge-podge of communities and the architecture is equally as inconsistent. What we don't have a lot of are things that are universally and identifiably Torontonian, besides the sky dome (rogers centre, but actually... sky dome) and the CN tower. Ed's, the "Sam the record man" sign, these are pieces Torontonians, past and present, know, despite being from different neighbourhoods, cultures, of different ages. There are still things in the city, that we need to preserve, that remind us Toronto has a story and character. And frankly, by the sounds of that article, seem like it might be moving again shortly. I'd prefer that happen 'til it finds a permanent than for it just simply be destroyed.

I love neon and this sign was one of the few neon signs remaining in Toronto, so I am happy it will be back up and flashing. It's actually one of my favourite signs in Toronto, so I am a happy man. I called every politician I knew to advocate for this sign, so hopefully, that helped get it approved.

your lack of knowledge with regards to the history of this city, and especially Sam the Record Man, is sad. Of course people outside of this city knew what it was. Sams had chains all across Canada. This was the flagship store. The sign is a big part of the visual history of Yonge St. It was iconic.

Trust me, not only do you not take more historically important dumps every morning, I'd wager that for the rest of your life you will do nothing and be nowhere near as important historical or otherwise) to Toronto as an old, broken down neon sign.

To the commenters who say that the sign was made to look like a pair of breasts ...

There originally was one record (actually there was different signage before that even) and when the store expanded into the next storefront a couple of decades later, a second record was added (in fact the complete signage was duplicated as can be seen on the wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_the_Record_Man).

Because, after all, it was historically A&A that had the more outrageous signage. Sam's is just an afterthought in this image (which shows only the right record. The left one was added after Sam's took over Steele's Tavern):

What a completely ignorant statement. Many people who were born in the '80s know about Sam The Record Man too. I'm sure that some from the '90s do as well. In fact, the store only closed 7 years ago. And before you get to far ahead of yourself, yes many people outside of Toronto know of Sam The Record Man and the iconic sign. Just as an example, I was born in the mid-80s, grew up a couple hours away from Toronto, and many of my friends new of the store too. Not only did we know of the store, we knew exactly where it was and have shopped there.

Honestly I think it looks stupid on top of that building. You'll get none of the charm of the sign from way up there. City council should have been more firm and told Ryerson to f---ing suck it up and put the sign where they agreed to put it when bought the property. Ryerson knew full well their responsibility when they purchased the spot and should have designed around the sign.

What does this say to other companies and the like who buy historical property? That they can just weasel out of their responsibility like Ryerson did?

Toronto Music City is never going to happen that's just a game they're playing so they can take the sign down in a few years when Music City doesn't happen then the spot can be ready and declared a new Advertising Billboard spot that will make $$$$$$$$$!

As a Ryerson student, I'm pretty pissed that the school will be footing the bill. I study engineering, my tuition was 10 grand last year and will increase 10% per annum until I graduate, four years from now. Lab equipment is dismal and funding for student groups is extremely limited. In regards to the school finding a way to put the sign back where it was, it is pretty damn obvious that they had no intention of re-integration given the design of the structure they are building. You don't need to be an architect to see that it won't work. Personally, I was born in the mid '90's so I don't understand why the sign is so iconic, even if I was amazed by the seemingly hypnotic spinning as a child.

As a Torontonian I would be equally pissed if the city paid the tab. As much as the sign is a city landmark I don't think it is appropriate for tax dollars to go into it. Especially when the store does not exist any more.

I dunno, maybe it's generational differences but either way it's a lose lose situation. Recently in Berlin they took down the last remaining part of the Berlin wall, an international landmark. Cities should move forward, especially a forward thinking city like Toronto.

Or maybe he was born in 1995 and doesn't give a shit since he (probably) never grew up with Sam's? I've come across many young people born in the 1990's who don't remember anything from the 80's, 70's, 60's, or '50's; why should they care about Sam's or the Sam's sign (especially since they'll have to pay for it out of their tuition?) We need to let go of this.

what you should be pissed at is that Ryerson insists on planting their awful buildings only in the most prominent & expensive locations...Yonge & Gould, Bay & Dundas etc...apparently they have tonnes of money and hate side streets.

This is a perfect and fitting end to an iconic image of Toronto. This was the go-to destination in Toronto for music-lovers for decades. The notion that no one will 'understand' what it means is simply not true.

People complaining that the sign has no relevance to their lives, or they barely/don't remember the store, or Toronto should move forward: cities aren't just for one person, perspective, or experience. They're for everyone. So maybe be open-minded before slamming things that other people hold dear or are passionate about? You're not just paying taxes so that the city can fix your water mains and run the TTC - you're paying for a city where people's voices, memories, and interests are included and encouraged.

As for the funding - Ryerson essentially agreed to act as caretaker for the sign. It was up to their staff to do an assessment before signing, including identification of any hazardous materials. No sympathy here - students should direct their frustrations at Ryerson's board of directors.

Ryerson students should shut their mouths this sign has no impact on there tuition or other school costs. If you want to look at it that way, the University has already made more than the the cost of the installation of the sign off of the prime land the received off of the deal.

Can we have real history in this city and not a big store sign people have seen before? If you went to Montreal and saw a big sign for Jeff the cassette tape guy shoved somewhere in the city would you think ohhh such an amazing example to history!

How on earth do you propose defining "real history?" One person's "real" history is another person's waste of time, and vice versa. Making such judgement calls leads to an exclusionary/revisionist historical narrative. Sooner or later, you'll need to deal with the fact that late 20th century urban landmarks, artefacts, and events are now history and worthy of remembrance.

That's the impression I got from him as well. It's more like, the Sam sign might not make any sense to people perhaps born after 1990 or even after 1992, because a four year old Torontonian back then has the ability to remember that. But most of all, the ones who the Sam sign might not make any sense or connection to, would be those who are not born-and-raised here or not even very long-time residents. And yes, the sign was an icon of the city, because people from outside the city even another province, would have known about the sign and the record store. They would have even shopped there when stopping by Toronto. The sign was even seen in music videos and films when the backdrop was Yonge. As for the sign, wrong place, it should be draped over a building, such as an actual floor level, perhaps somewhere in the middle or upper floors of the Yonge-Dundas square building.

I'm a student at Ryerson, and quite frankly I like it. I was born in the 90s but can still understand why it is important to some people here. My uncle used to work there way back and I've managed to dig up a couple t-shirts that I assume were his uniform. Speaking to my dad, he explained to me how relevant it was back then and how it was an important fragment of the music industry. As he was explaining it to me, I could tell he was reminiscing and is that not what it's all about? People will get to walk by this sign and remember what Toronto used to be and how this store somehow affected their lives. For those who have no idea what it is or simply don't like the look of it because it's an old sign on a new building, I'm sure they will still be able to sleep at night. As far as taxpayer's dollars supposedly paying for the installation, if their money was not used for that it would be used for something else. People need to appreciate Toronto's history.

Sam's was a STORE, Just a store. A retailer selling records. Its sign is NOT a cultural icon, people. Why are torontonians always so attached to things that do not matter? While we're at it, why not rename Nathan Phillips Square "Consumers Distributing Square"?!!!

So instead of the city preserving some of old heritage sites we save a sign from a store. I understand how important to music history Sam's was but it doesn't make sense. So now out of my tution i'm helping to pay for a sign I could care less about. This belongs in a museam not here. I could only imagine what they'll do with the obnoxious Honest Ed's signs.

I liked this sign and was sad to see it go, but didn't think it was coming back anyway.

I think the main problem here is Ryersons' selfishness. It was bad enough when they bought Maple Leaf Gardens, kept the upstairs rink, but you have to go to ryerson to use it! Yonge and Dundas should be for everyone, it's a cultural downtown hub and they're claiming it for themselves again - no outsiders allowed. They're just pissed off they don't have the real estate to compete with U of T, not understanding that U of T got there before the land was home to many. Get out of my fucking way, Ryerson!

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